Jesse Metcalfe looks back at the remarkable journey he's been on. Almost two decades after embarking on his rehabilitation journey, the star of "John Tucker Must Die" shared a poignant insight into the struggle with drugs and alcohol that led him to seek treatment in 2007.
"I've had my struggles with drugs and alcohol," Jesse, now 47, said in the March 17 episode of the "Not Skinny But Not Fat" podcast. "The pressure, the scrutiny—it was all too much to handle. I just wanted to escape from it all."
"At a certain point," he continued, "it's not just about the emotional underpinnings of addiction. It becomes pure addiction. If alcohol or drugs are around, they pull you in."
Beyond his own struggles, Jesse also shared insight into his family history of drug and alcohol addiction.
"I was hopeful that it would skip a generation," he said, referring to his time on "Desperate Housewives." "But the fact is, it runs in my family. Both of my grandfathers were raging alcoholics, and my father has had quite a bit of sobriety."
Despite the ups and downs he's faced since going through treatment, Jesse has remained committed to his sobriety journey. He admitted that he "definitely slipped up" in the late 2010s but is now in a great place.
"I haven't stayed sober the whole time," he revealed. "But I am now, and I think that's what matters most. If you're battling addiction for basically your whole adult life, when you mess up and have a bender or really late night, you feel like such crap about yourself. It's never worth it."
Moreover, Jesse's sobriety has led him to work on other issues beyond his drug and alcohol use. He emphasized the importance of asking for help.
"It was like trauma," he explained. "It was like I had a wounded little boy inside of me who was reacting to everything. I've done a lot of therapy—a lot of out-of-network therapy that cost me a small fortune because the good therapist they're not in network."
Jesse added, "Therapy's great."
